The Ensign Enigma

This story began weeks ago in Sweden, but it’s time to go public.

We were in Ystad harbour one morning, when a yacht flying the ‘red duster’ standard UK red ensign was leaving port.

‘Ahoy!’ he cried sociably, ‘What’s your yacht club?’ ‘Fahan, Donegal in Ireland’ we replied, sociably.

‘Well’ he said, not so sociably, ‘you shouldn’t be flying that ‘defaced’ Irish ensign, and you’ll get fined in Tallinn in Estonia if you do!’

Our lovely Lough Swilly Yacht Club flag incorporating the Irish national flag has been flown at the back of our boats every time we go to sea, and by generations of our yacht club members all over the world.

‘It’s just as legal as yours!’ I retorted, not at all sociably.

But the doubt had crept in. Talk about spoiling my day! And so began a trail of investigation that has yet to come to a conclusion.

Apart from looking up the obvious reference for all things unknown, Wikipedia 😀, we contacted the Irish Cruising Club, the Flags of the World Reference Library, the Department for Transport, Tourism and Sport in Ireland, which manages marine affairs, The Irish Sailing Association, our own Commodore, who raised the matter at the committee meeting the following evening, and a couple of our club members who have cruised widely in foreign parts over the years.

Not that we were obsessing in any way!

And so it is with many things in Ireland, there is no clear answer. Certainly, there are a few clubs that have a warrant for their club ensign, but there are many more that do not, and since the only person that can issue them is the President of Ireland, and he/she has had no interest in doing so over the years, the custom and practise is for yacht clubs to fly their colours proudly wherever they go.

And it has been our experience that the Lough Swilly Irish Ensign has been acceptable to customs officials in every country we have visited so far, and has been a source of pleasant conversation about how come an Irish boat is in the Baltic.

But we will see when we get to Estonia!